This invention pertains to printer technology for a recording apparatus using an ink, such as ink jet printers and more particularly, to an ink cartridge and an ink cartridge identifying apparatus which can confirm that a standard, proper ink cartridge designed to be used for such a particular printer has been loaded into the printer.
If a wrong sized or shaped cartridge is forced into a printer, damage to both the cartridge and printer may occur. Additionally, print quality may suffer once the cartridge is inserted. In prior art printers, various systems have been utilized to avoid the breaking of a printer main body by the insertion of a print cartridge other than a print cartridge designed for use with the particular printer.
One example of such a prior art printer is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 6-344628. In this prior art printer, first-level lockout processing is performed by first determining the number and position of a plurality of pen groups situated on the ink cartridge. A wing is arranged at a different position on each pen group by changing the dimension of a barrier arranged on the bottom of the carriage compartment of each pen group. Therefore, this barrier insures that a cartridge that is not one of a predetermined number of cartridges cannot be loaded into the printer since the pen groups will not move past the barrier and therefore the print operation cannot be performed.
Although the aforementioned prior art has been sufficient to prevent irregular loading of improper ink cartridges, there still is room for further improvement. It is desirable to provide a system with a simple structure and easy handling design which reliably allows for visibly checking and preventing the loading of an ink cartridge which is not one of a predetermined number of cartridges designed to be used with a particular printer.